Method and means of feeding window envelopes to a folding machine



METHOD AND MEANS O2 FEEDING WINDOW ENVELOPES TO A FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1958 June 5, 1962 J GIBBON 3,037,432

/v VENTOR (YA Es GIBBON 1mm Lam/M United States Patent 3,037,432 METHOD AND MEANS OF FEEDING WINDOW ENVELOPES TO A FOLDING MACHINE James Gibbon, West Bromwich, England, assignor to Kenrick 8: Jefferson Limited, West Bromwich, England, a British company Filed Mar. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 719,266 Claims priority, application Great Britain Mar. 13, 1957 1 Claim. (Cl. 93--61) This invention has reference to window envelopes of the kind having a cut out or open rectangular window as distinct from envelopes wherein the window is covered with transparent material. The invention also has reference to a method and means for forming the said open window envelopes.

It is found in practice that when open window envelopes are fed one at a time from a staggered heap of envelope blanks there is a tendency for the trailing transverse edge of the window of the topmost envelope blank to foul the leading transverse edge of the envelope blank beneath and thus interfere with the accurate feeding of succeeding envelopes through the machine.

The invention has for its primary object to provide an envelope and a method and means of forming same which overcomes the aforesaid ditliculty. The invention has for a subsidiary object to provide an envelope which facilitates the insertion of the contents of the envelope by reducing the tendency for the contents to foul the lower transverse edge of the window of the envelope.

In this specificaiton the terms leading, trailing and transverse edges are defined in relation to the position which the envelope blanks assume during the stage of manufacture of the envelopes in which the tendency for fouling is to be avoided.

The invention consists of an open window envelope characterised in that the leading and/ or the trailing transverse edge or edges of the open window of the envelope blank has or have been downturned and/or upturned respectively relative to the plane of the blank for the purpose specified.

The invention further resides in a method of feeding open envelope blanks which comprises the step of pressing in a downturned and/or upturned direction relative to the plane of the envelope blank the leading and/or trailing transverse edge or edges of the open Window of each envelope blank, and in the means hereinafter described for effecting this deformation.

Preferred means carrying the present invention into practice will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a staggered pile of envelope blanks in accordance with this invention,

FIG. 2 is a section on the line TI-'II seen in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate two alternative means for producing the envelope blanks seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As seen in the drawings the opposed parallel leading and trailing transverse edges 5 and 6 of the window aperture of the envelope blanks are downturned and upturned respectively out of the plane of the envelope blank to form all along said edges oppositely inclined narrow lips so that when the topmost envelope blank 7 is fed from a staggered pile of envelope blanks 7, 7a, 7b, etc., the

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tendency for the trailing edge 6 of the topmost blank to foul the leading edges 5a, 5b of the blanks 7a, 7b thereunder is avoided.

The deflection or inclination of the transverse edges of the window may be effected by pressing the blanks singly or in batches between a pair of dies. Dies for this purpose are illustrated in FIG. 3 wherein it will be seen that the presented faces of the upper and lower dies 8 and 9 are each provided with V-shaped channels and protrusions 8a, 8b and 9a, 9b adapted for registration one pair with the other to deform the transverse window edges in the requisite manner.

Alternatively the transverse leading and trailing edges 5 and 6 may be downturned and upturned by feeding the envelope blanks in sequence between a pair of opposed driven rollers 10 and 11 embodying axially, i.e. transversely, extending V-shaped pairs of protrusions and channels 10a, 10b and 11a, 11b wherein the registering pairs of channels and grooves 11b, 10a, 11a co-act to deform the window edges in the required manner.

The deflection or inclination of the parallel leading and trailing edges of the window may be formed as the blanks are passed from a gumming machine to a folding machine, the deforming operation being deformed automatically between these machines or by means of a separate machine employed for that purpose.

It will be realised that if the subsidiary object of the invention is to be fulfilled, viz that the insertion of the contents of the envelope is to be facilitated, then the transverse leading and trailing edges should be downturned and upturned with the inside face of each blank uppermost and with the subsequently closed end of the blank leading in the direction of feed of the blanks.

I claim:

The method of forming flat open window envelope blanks having open generally rectangular apertures for trouble free individual feeding from a stack, which comprises the steps of positioning each said blank with the edges of its open aperture disposed in predetermined location and oppositely deforming from the plane of each blank only the opposed parallel edges of each open aperture that are disposed respectively inleading and trailing relation to the direction of blank feed so that said blank is thereby provided along said aperture edges with inclined narrow lips that project oppositely from the plane of the blank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 23,300 Harmon Mar. 22, 1859 151,258 West May 26, 1874 1,276,990 Swift Aug. 27, 1918 1,438,122 McCoy Dec. 5, 1922 1,766,416 Von Winkler June 24, 1930 1,958,005 Klinger May 8, 1934 2,334,413 Kerr Nov. 16, 1943 2,761,360 Pearce Sept. 4, 1956 2,971,689 Gibbon Feb. 11, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 65,175 Denmark Dec. 2, 1946 895,731 France Feb. 1, 1945 

